Vicariously I watch

The story that caught my interest was the one with the Queen of England trying to use a poverty fund for her palace heating expenses.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/sep/24/queen-tried-to-get-uk-poverty-fund-to-heat-palace/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Apparently palace officials thought that they could get away with using this grant to fund the heating for their giant and outdated palace. the total sum a year is up to 1.5 million a year. the petition gut turned down in 2004 though. and since they officials decided to back down realizing the high chance of an angry response by the citizens.

Now I've never been to England, And forgive me If I end up sounding ignorant for not doing more proper research on the subject; But its not like the country is overflowing with money lately. I'm pretty sure theres poverty there too and a lot of low income families and homes and In this economy more than ever.

So why did they decide to give it a shot at this? Did they not do their research of the people living there that might actually really need the funding especially in those cold and rainy winter days over there. Its not the first time the Queen's finances have been controversial and a lot of tax money already goes into funding to the royal family, and I mean A LOT of money.

Does the English community appreciate this? apparently some don't while others support it saying the Queen has helped the community a lot. I wouldn't know, But I am really curious to know more about what they think regarding this subject. After all we are not living in the 17th or 18th century, we have no real need for kings and queens spending of a massive amount of money while their subjects go hungry or cold.

Unyielding Heirophant

Arturo Aragon

My article was the one regarding facebook and problems with marriages which can be found here.

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2010/09/16/blast-past-facebook-destroy-marriage/

Problems relating Social networking sites and relationships are nothing new to our society. In my experience I have seen breakups, divorces, engagement breakups, restraining orders, and enough drama to write maybe a few seasons for the TV show Melrose Place.

The article does point some some valid points, Facebook has become an addictive website for many people and those with not a lot of self control. Maybe its because We see it as just a harmless website. I can understand some people being friends with their ex-lovers, myself included. But to rekindle a romance, especially when married is a sign that there is no happiness in the already established relationship or there is a lack of self control.

We've seen it happen in Science fiction movies where we escape to an alternate or cybernetic reality because the life we're living is not enough. But then to actualize it and ruin a perfectly good thing they have going on? Maybe I'm not exactly in that situation and can't really comment, but a relationship is a commitment, its dedication and loyalty among other things.

I too have encountered some problems with facebook, I checked it like thrice a day before I decided to leave alone my computer for a week which then lead to a whole month, only checking my email in the morning. It can be hard but in the long run its the best choice. We can't depend on the internet to satisfy our sexual fantasies or our social needs when we have the whole world outside waiting for us to take action.

Rhinosaur

Arturo Aragon

I was planning on writing about the actual Quran burning happening today in protest against the building of a Mosque/community center near ground zero. This morning I read the update saying that there will not be any burning this Saturday evening.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/09/11/florida.quran.burning.imam/index.html

To be honest I'm a little relieved that this blatantly retarded attack on another culture/ethnic group was called off. Not only did it caused a lot of problems in the middle east such as protests where a few people were hurt or even one died! as well as it motivated a few new recruits into the Taliban or Al Qaeda.

President Obama made it very clear in the article. Of course we have to be sensitive to the whole issue, people's lives were lost there and in the recurring events that lead to it. But lately to me it feels as it we're pacifying our citizens into utter ignorant whiny babies. "Muslims are other Americans' neighbors, friends and co-workers" President Obama stated in the Article.

We are supposed to be the land of the free, we have a constitution and a bill of rights. We can't go around persecuting others otherwise we would have been better off in a Monarchy or Fascist government. How would people feel if we started going after Christians? It would only seem fair, after all Ignorant Christians have been waging wars and hatred for 2000 years. From Crusades, Inquisitions, Witch hunts, The Westboro Baptist church that thanks God for dead soldiers and Aids.

The last part of the Article proves my point.

["We're pointing the finger at the wrong person," Jones said. "I haven't even done anything. I think it reveals ... the violence in Islam. Just the mere mentioning of it, just the threat, causes them to kill people, to protest, to say they are going to kill the president. I think it is quite obvious that what we are saying is definitely, definitely true."]

There is a stench in the air of smug moral superiority sometimes and it really bothers me. Of course, not to the extent where I get angry or loose sleep. But Sometimes it feels like we're not really evolving or that we're taking steps back but I really can't generalize the whole public otherwise I wouldn't be any different than the people starting this.